Doylestown Health hits construction milestone

By Gabby Houckghouck@theintell.com

Friday

Aug 10, 2018 at 5:00 AM

As of July 31, steel beams have been erected for the new Heart and Vascular center on State Street in Doylestown Township. Beams will continue to be erected through September, and construction for the $42 million center is set to be completed by fall 2019.

Since its public launch back in June, Doylestown Health’s multi-year One Vision campaign has been moving full steam ahead in both construction and fundraising, reaching major construction and financial milestones in just a few months' time.

As of July 31, steel beams have been erected for the new Heart and Vascular center on State Street in Doylestown Township. Beams will continue to be erected through September, and construction for the $42 million center is set to be completed by fall 2019.

According to President and CEO of Doylestown Health James Brexler, construction is moving along as planned.

“We’ve suffered a few setbacks because of all the rain but we’ll have more than enough opportunities to make that up, as of right now we’re still right on schedule,” Brexler said.

Once the new Heart and Vascular Center is open it will bring Doylestown Health’s staff of cardiothoracic and endovascular surgeons, electrophysiologists and interventional and medical cardiologists all under one roof while continuing to meet the growing demand for advanced medical services in the community, officials said.

The One Vision campaign is a five- to seven-year revamp meant to accelerate the hospital into a new generation of patient care and medical treatment as it nears its 100th anniversary in 2023.

As construction continues, so does the financial campaign to support the effort.

The campaign is actively seeking $75 million in philanthropic investments to fund a $100 million endeavor for several different projects, including the construction of the heart and vascular center, a new outpatient pavilion and expanded surgical suites.

The campaign has already hit the $30-million milestone, earning $2 million in just the last six weeks, officials said.

“This campaign has been given very generous gifts that really gave us a kickstart,” said Brexler.

In 2017, before the public announcement, Doylestown Health received its largest philanthropic gifts in the hospital's history. Two $5 million dollar gifts were made by campaign co-leaders Alex and Patricia Gorsky and Richard and Angela Clark. Richard Clark is the retired chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. and Alex Gorsky is president and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. Both families reside in Bucks County.

Since then, Doylestown Health has been actively working to expand, but expansion doesn't come without growing pains.

“A beam had to be swung over a unit, so we sent out a warning weeks in advance saying the unit had to be shut down for three days while the steel was swung into position, even though this process can be tedious it's all about communication,” Brexler said.

According to Director of Communications Ron Watson, all patients normally placed in that unit had beds prepared for them elsewhere and the unit was shut down and reopened in less than three days without impacting the delivery of patient care.

“I think out of all of this it would be surprises that would irk them (the staff) the most; we try to give them no surprises at all,” Brexler said.

He thanked Communications and Public Relations Coordinator Beth Long and Watson for keeping the staff informed throughout the construction process, praising them for the emails they send daily to keep everyone informed and up to date with what's happening and sending fair warnings when things like unit shutdowns need to happen.

Construction has also made parking at Doylestown Health a challenge, but measures have been taken to enhance parking, including a free valet service and shuttle buses for staff that can’t find a spot close enough to the hospital.

“I remind the staff every day that if they weren’t so great then we wouldn’t be doing this,” Brexler said.

He continued, “But there’s just been this outpouring commitment from them because of the 450 staff members we have, for about 85 percent of them this is their home, they work for their community because they love their community, so they're willing to endure any growing pains necessary to make this Doylestown Health better for the patients.”

And as the campaign continues, Brexler wants the community to know this:

“This campaign isn’t just a vision for one department of our hospital, this campaign is one shared vision we have with the community and our physicians as a whole. We want the community to know they are a part of our vision.”

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